Hoppe Tree Service of Milwaukee, WI, illustrates how a tree care specialist can branch out into producing urban lumber.

Hoppe Tree Service, is a full-service tree care company, that third generation owner August Hoppe says cut “our removed trees into firewood and not thinking anything of it.”

That approach changed in 2014, when Hoppe Tree Service purchased a launched the Urban Wood Lab and stated milling some of the logs of those removed urban trees into lumber. The company operates a retail store catering to professional custom woodworkers, hobbyists, etc.

In a 2017 interview with the Urban Wood Network, Hoppe said urban lumber sales were still a fraction of the company’s annual sales but had a great upside. “Right now it is still low, 3 to 5 percent of our business, but the company is growing at a fast rate. Within five years, I predict it will become between 5 and 10 percent of our revenue. Our goal would be to get to a place where we both remove trees and take on logs from other sources, becoming more of an aggregate of urban logs.”

To grow Urban Wood Lab’s business, Hoppe said, “We cross-brand to our existing client base. Telling the story of urban wood and providing the uniqueness of natural edge wood slabs are both working very well for us right now. We also participate in local networking and exhibiting events, such as home and garden shows. We market to anyone who has an appreciation for the uniqueness of wood.”